Histology Sections

A section in histology refers to an extremely thin slice of tissue. This slice is transparent because it has been shaved with a microtome (an instrument for slicing tissue into very thin slices e.g. 5 micrometres thin) from a tissue sample or gross specimen. The piece of tissue is then laid flat onto a glass slide, stained with a dye, which may or may not include antibody, and mounted with mounting fluid of the proper refractive index to allow for microsopic viewing of the specimen. Glass coverslips are added as a protective measure only. They do not provide a refractive index effective.